To not want a dog in shared garden?

[Dotty07]

We have a shared yard at the back of our house that is shared with 2 others neighbours. A new neighbour recently moved in and has a dog. The dog uses the garden space as a toilet, he does now pick up poo after many discussions but the dog pees everywhere and in everything. We can have anything out as he just lets it pee on whatever, including my back door!

AIBU to not want a dog using the back garden at all, it’s very small and the dog is big, is it just me?

I can’t go out when it’s in the garden as the owner doesn’t try to stop it approaching us

You have a neighbour problem, not a dog problem.

I wouldn't be happy and I have a dog...but why should you have to put up with dog shit and piss and what if you had kids playing around in random dog piss. Contact the land lord

Why do kids get precedence? He should pick up the poo, but other than that it's a shared garden, others kids dont trump someone's dog.

It's a shared garden - the big downside to them is that you have to put up with other people using it in a normal garden way, but doing things you don't like.

Assuming pets are allowed then this is always going to be a risk of a shared garden.

As a dog owner you have my sympathies. I initially let our dog take her constitutional in the garden but it stank, so she's no longer allowed.

Dogs can easily be trained and they should be walked, so I think it's fair enough that a shared garden should be off-limits.

Calm down Moorfarm, I don't see anywhere in the OP that she says the dog is "left out" or "unsupervised" in the yard. He could be taking the dog out, letting it pee and straight back in again. It's not clear from her OP.

The dog is sometimes out in its own, sometimes supervised but never on a lead. I have children but don’t allow them out. As someone has said it’s not the dogs fault it’s the owner.

What happens when the dog approaches you? Is it aggressive?

Aaaaand now my phone decides to load the next bit with the OP update. Are you scared of the dog Op? Or dogs in general?
Could you reach some compromise that the dog has an allocated area of the yard so you know a section of it will be pee free? That might work as a compromise otherwise (assuming he's permitted a dog in the rental) you will just have to deal with it.
Cat and fox piss and shit are much nastier btw. Cat shit smells hideous.

Yanbu I would hate this, but then I wouldn’t live anywhere with a shared garden, I would rather not have one.

YANBU. I’ve found many dog owners are arrogant assh*les. Ethically, he should be taking the dog for a walk and shared garden off-limits.
Do you rent? If so, see if there’s anything in your tenancy agreement, voice your concerns to landlord, potentially citing the agreement if there’s anything relevant.

I don’t think the dog would bite but as the dog is big and comes bounding at you barking it can be scary. I’m fine but it would knock over a child. I don’t mind dogs if they are on a lead under control.

Is the garden paved?

OP have you actually talked to the neighbours? They might not be aware that you are intimidated by the dog. They might just think that nobody is using the shared space and it's ok to let the dog out....

Yes the garden is paved.

can you talk to the tenant/landlord about getting a water pressure washer? It's not the dog, it's the inconsiderate dog owner - I'd be talking to the landlord IF you've talked to the tenant about the pee and they've taken no steps to contain or clean it.

yes that's a good question - if it's something like a retriever and they do in general sound a bit clueless they may simply not understand they're scaring you.

As you have the protection of the landlord, I would use it. This guys behaviour is totally unacceptable. It is disgusting to allow a dog to pee on paving slabs like that.

What does it say in the deeds about use of shared spaces?

Ethically, he should be taking the dog for a walk and shared garden off-limits.

You know you can walk a dog and let it out for short pees etc? A dog needs out two to three times a day, they dont all need walked this often.

I have spoken to Tenant and unfortunately it didn’t go down well. I also have spoken with the landlord and they don’t seem to have a problem with it. I will have a look at my deeds to see what it says.

I'm in a similar setup. Three residents, shared garden, downstairs household have a dog. We all rent.

Everyone's lease stipulates 'no toileting of dogs in the garden'. The neighbour is really, really conscientious about taking her dog on a walk daily so he can poop elsewhere.

It's possible for dog owners to be considerate. We all get along very well as a result.

The LL doesn't have a problem either? That's rough. Not all dog owners are so grim. If I wanted to use the garden I'd resort to getting a washer or hosing things down. I don't know if there is any other recourse - let's hope they aren't hanging around long term.

I'm a dog owner with a very small garden. My dog doesn't pee in my garden because I take him out several times a day.

If I didn't feel well I would let him out in the garden, but otherwise he has no need to.

In a shared garden it's very selfish, especially on slabs. However, the kind of dog owner who allows that is not normally the most reasonable, I'm afraid.

It's pretty grim to allow a dog to pee/poo on a paved garden, particularly a small shared one (unless they're so small it's insignificant).

And I meant to add - there is no smell of pee in the (small) garden at all, so I'm guessing the dog doesn't pee there either. Come to think of it, I've never seen him lift his leg out there. He does dig in areas with no grass, but that's a problem easily sorted and his owner fills in any holes.

Check the lease terms of the offending neighbour.

You shouldn't have to put up with this.